Monday, 17 September 2012

I walk into the maternity ward for the first time, with a scary impression up in my head about the man I am going to be rotating under for the next eventful six weeks of my already Wonderful life. "Are You all the students who will be here for the next six weeks"? We manage to answer that with the faintest movement of our vocal cords and then mutter up enough courage to look the man in the eyes. He reads out our names from an email in his mobile device with some funny mispronunciations and then dops his head. On raising my head, I first notice some strands of white hair gladly worshipping from his head and yelling out 'Wisdom"! 16 years of practice is by no means a fluke, but then Life itself is a school nobody is yet to graduate from. He seems close but still far away and despite the fact that many places have been entered in search of "the answer", the most important answer eludes him. I see a man in search of the currency of life and existence. One who could trade all for that golden moment of meeting the 'Great architect". It is believed a certain group of people use those words "great architect", but if its english, then I too can make use of it. We run through how the 6 weeks will span out for us and what we are expected to accomplish at the end of it. And then he makes a profound statement;

'This is going to be the worst six weeks of your life; Sleep is going to be a mere figment of your imagination".

Needless to say it has been the opposite apart from the sleep segment though.
The past 5 weeks have been eye opening and I feel as if my brain is about to have an orgasm. There has been an increased blood supply to the organ for the past 5 weeks. My mind has always been torn in between making definitions, reasoning out logic and defending my beloved faith.
My Faith, that was the biggest problem. Conflicting faith is one of humanity's biggest problem. Thanks to the tower of Babel and the overzealousness of men to see God, diversity has seen mankind battle many intellectual wars in search of the "Reference Point".
So the big question, Do you believe a God or do you create a mental picture of what you want your's to look like? I know the latter sounds like idolatry, but far from it. This has been the ongoing battle between the life veteran and my humble self. I have had to defend my belief, never questioning any because I know 'the answer is out there". I just haven't come across any yet.
As my six weeks winds to a close, I am more interested in knowing whether or not we can arrive on the same page. But one thing I have picked up and never letting go: "Knowing what your reference point is". It doesn't always have to fit another person's but If you've got it, follow it. I am not finished yet; I will be back..............

Psalm 139:23-24.
Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts.
24 Find out if there is any evil in me
and guide me in the everlasting way.

Affirmation of the Fact that God alone is all Knowing: Even we Humans do not know ourselves as much as the creator does know us. Same way a computer tablet does not know its capabilities more than The "Steve Jobs" or "Bill Gates" that made it. To discover who we truly are and what we are capable of doing is best done when we pass through the Test. A personal experience does affirm this fact: a believe I hold so dearly. Little wonder the Bible says that every Man's work will be tested by the fire 1 Cor 3:13----his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
Even the man after God's own heart could affirm the all-knowing capability of God. The Psalmist knew that his real and true character would not be brought out when all going was good, but it will be brought out at those stages in Life where we have to step to the next level. The stage of the Test.
I always love to relate every spiritual lesson to what we can see here physically(because after all, the physical is a shadow of every thing done in the spiritual). Just as a student's real capability is brought out during the examinations, so does Life brings out our different forms during its "Test stages".
Prov 24:10---If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
The psalmist asked God to Test Him and discover his thought; what a request to make. But as known, true spiritual maturity lies in boldness-----2 Tim 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Even Elijah put God almighty to the test. As great a prophet he was, he knew that the true capability of the all-conquering God could only be affirmed if he was put to a sterner test. After all if something is humanly possible, then there is no need for a miracle in the first place. Evening approaches and Elijah takes twelve stones, according to the number of the Tribes of the sons of Jacob, and builds an altar IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. He put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and placed it atop the wood. Then, Elijah filled four barrels with water and poured them on the bullock and the wood, not once, not twice, but three times! At the time of the evening sacrifice, the Prophet Elijah came near and called on the Lord GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel to let it be known that “Thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.” Elijah continued on to make sure that Israel and the prophets of Baal made no mistakes about this most important event that would prove the existence of the ONE True GOD, the GOD of Israel and all that HE requires of HIS People and of the Stranger who wishes to worship HIM.

( 2 Tim 3: 16&17; Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action), 17So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work...

The Holy spirit Breaths through the hands of a son in one sleepless night to answer a question on Life, death and sleep).

And Now>>>> lets follow through the next Line of scriptures to get a Bird's eye-view:
A. Ephesians 2: 1-3: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others”.

B. Deut. 30: 19-20 "I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life. 20 "Love the Lord your God, obey him and be faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob".

C. Luke 9:56 "For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them [[from the penalty of eternal death] (Amp Bible).

D. Luke 20: 37-38 But that the dead are raised from death]--even Moses made known and showed in the passage concerning the [burning] bush, where he calls the Lord, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38. Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all men are alive [whether in the body or out of it] and they are alive [not dead] unto Him [in definite relationship to Him].

E. I John 3:14 (New International Version)
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
I John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

F. John 11:11-15 "
Jesus said this and then added,
Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up.
The disciples answered,
If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well. 13 Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep. So Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead, but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe. Let us go to him.

Sleep
Ever wondered why the Jesus called human death "Sleep"? Seems Hilarious at first mention. When I was a baby Christian still feeding on the Milk of the Word (1 Pet.2:2), I always thought Jesus was trying to make Joke of the entire situation as serious as Human death, maybe because he was the Son of God. But when I began to Feed on the strong meat Of the Gospel (Heb 5:12-14), The Holy spirit brought me to a place of understanding as regards why Jesus used the term Sleep. One note of caution that was sounded into my ears " God is full of Joy and Laughter, but funny enough not even an iota of his word is a Joke".

(Jn 6:63--It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Jn 14:24--and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
Jn 12: 49--(NIV) For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.)

The above scriptures clearly shows that not even a term in God's dictionary is a Joke word nor was mistakenly uttered. God's words are life, they are spiritual, living, active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb4:12)---Not one thing in the entire Bible shows that God's word is a joke--so Jesus definitely could not be making up one when he says "Sleep". What then is Life, Death and sleep.
One thing that has to be clearly ironed out here is that any human formed and born into this earth will never cease to exist: Once you have been created, you will exist for eternity: on passage to the next world, your destination will be determined by the flight and airline with which you booked your ticket while here on earth. Why? Because matter is not destroyed but passes from one form to another. Interesting fact of science.
Secondly we all have to come to the terms that Humans do not "die" as that word does not exist in God's vocabulary. Little wonder Jesus rarely used the term to describe the passing on of a man. Luke 20:38 clearly points out that "TO GOD ALL MEN ARE ALIVE".
Dan 12:2 says And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt and abhorrence. Note the Use of Words in this passage 'As many Who sleep". The bible clearly proves that what man considers as death, God considers as sleep. Jesus had to condescend Low to the use of Human vocabulary to bring to the understanding of His disciples the case about Lazarus' demise (Jn 11:11-15).
AS Believers we are not subject to the use of Human vocabulary because we are not of this world (Jn 15:19: Rom 12:2). This was the level of wisdom that operated in the apostles when they began to address the church as regards issues of Human death. Paul addressing the Church in Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) shows the working of divine wisdom in the use of his words and sheds more light on the issue of those who are asleep in Christ. So therefore we should talk like gods because we are(Psalm 82:6-7). Now we have clearly established the proper word to define human death as known to the World, so therefore what is Death.

Death.....
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." ( Hebrews 2:14,15).

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.(2 Cor 5:21).

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man (Rom 8:3)
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.(Rom 8:6).

Let me begin from the very verse above Heb 2:14,15: Christ had to, through death, destroy him who had the power of death. Now note carefully that death itself is not destroyed but its possessor was defeated by Christ. The Bible clearly spells out that death will be the Last enemy to be destroyed (1 Cor.15:26). If death itself was destroyed Christ would not have been able to defeat the possessor of its power who by then was Satan: because Christ had to "die" to defeat the possessor of the power of Death. Ever heard of falling into a pit to rescue someone who dug the same pit--Pretty much what Christ did, but he did not go to rescue but to defeat. 2 Cor 5:21 shows that Christ was made death(sin) for us--does that give you a glimpse what death is??----Death is sin. That is why the bible clearly spells out that the wages of Sin is Death: (Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord). In other words when one fills a glass with water droplets, gradually it rises from one level till it fills to the brim...Then we can say the wages of that Little drops of water or the payment of the Little water drops is a filled glass of water. That why the bible in Provs 18:21 shows us that Life--The ability to confess Jesus and accept him as your Lord and Saviour(Roms 10:9), and Death--The ability to deny Jesus' Sacrifice on the Cross and continue living in perpetual bondage to sin, Is in the power of the Tongue.

1 John 3:14 says "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death". In other words, this can be re-written as " and we know that we have passed from bondage of sin into Life because we love the brethren. What is love? 1 John 4:8 answers that "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. God is love. God is Holy and Holiness requires abiding by the Law: Thus therefore we are sin-free and Holy because we Love the brethren. How? Rom 13:10 "Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." By abiding in Love we fulfill the law(Gal 5:14, John 13:34-35, Matt 5:17).

So therefore a fact is established: Faith is built up: Death is bondage to sin. We can only avoid sin by keeping the Law just Like Jesus did (Matt 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them", Jn 13:34-35“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”).
And we are glad that we are Just Like Jesus because As He is, so are we, even now. (1 John 4:17 In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.)

Pass from death to life------->Keep the law by-------->Fulfilling the law through------>Love.

Gen 3:10--'And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.'

Rom 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

John 17:22
And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

Matthew 6:28:
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin

Matthew 6:29: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these..

Woke up this morning with a thought....Just about the glory of God; what was, what is n how has it been restored? with the above 4 passages, the Holy spirit answered a life-long question of mine...The spirit taught me this--"God's glory was and is Man's clothing". taking our minds back to the very First Adam, the bible clearly tells in the opening scripture how Adam ran and hid himself when God came for his daily routine visit to him in the Garden. Adam had sinned, and thus the entire mankind. And cos he sinned, the bible tells us that he realized that he was naked...why? after-all, the fruit was of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil, not of the realization of our nakedness..cos if being naked was a sin, that means we all sin daily, cos a normal being ought to wash up daily! Then the spirit taught me this----going to the book of Roms 3:23, I now realised why Adam saw his nakedness--Thus, in simple context, Sin reveals our nakedness cos it causes us to fall short of God's clothing for us, which is His Glory! Thus Adam realised he was naked cos the clothing of God which was given to him had been let down from his body, so he realised he was naked!

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. {14} He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." (John 16:13-14).

Indeed, the spirit guideth us into all truth! secondly, I asked again "why did Jesus say that even Solomon, the wealthiest and most splendid Human king that ever lived, in all his glory could not measure up to that of the Lillies? Then the spirit taught me again: The glory of man after Adam had sinned had been Lost to the devil and only a redeemer, one who could go to hell and bring back man's Lost glory, was able to redeem Man! Then, I now saw why our Lord had to go to the Hades to confront the devil after his death, in order to restore Man's lost Glory. So therefore the glory of solomon, which was man-made could not still measure up to the glory that God had poured out to the works of his creation. wOW! how interesting to know that before Jesus came, even the Lillies had more glory or say were clothed in more glory than us! Thank God man has now rightly taken his place in creation.

Now the spirit taught me again--John 17:22, Jesus spoke of the restoration of glory to mankind. The glory of man kind was restored...and I also think in addition to that, CHRIST HIMSELF, had deposited his own Glory in us, cos as the bible rightly says, *Christ in us, the hope of Glory*(Col 1:27)and as he is, so are we in this World(1 John4:;17). Thus man after Christ is way far greater and more glorious than Man before Christ, cos the Glory of the latter vessel is greater than that of the Former(Hag. 2:9). So Christ restored to us and gave us his glory that we may be one just like The Father and The First-born from the dead! Awesome.

Therefore brethren, we can now rightly hold fast to that which had been restored to us. And panic no more, cos we have now, the Glory of God which cannot be taken away, neither does it fade away. We are no longer short of the Glory/Clothing Of God cos Christ had restored to us that Glory!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Lets go with Love!

Do you know you could give your entire world of possessions to somebody without loving the person? *(If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Cor. 13:3)*
Do you know you could have faith a great as to move mountains, the gift of prophecy, speak in diverse tongues, fathom all mysteries and all knowledge and yet lack in love! (1 Cor. 13:1)
Why? The answer is simple. The lesser is contained in the greater. To gather all other individual qualities, Spiritual gifts and other things, all we need do is ask! Listen, God's word is so true that it works for just anybody..I mean anybody! You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5 vs 6-8). So you see the scripture points out those for whom Christ came to redeem. Note carefully, not the Righteous, but the ungodly! All you need do is apply the word! Jesus said, * WHATSOEVER ye shall ask the father in my name.....do you know what that means. Only the Son of God can talk like that..and the Bible lets us know that by receiving Jesus, we have the power he possesses. The bible tells us that as many as received Jesus, to them he gave power to become SONS OF GOD even to them that believe on his name!(John 1: 12).

Note carefully the two words pointed out by the scripture, RECEIVE AND BELIEVE. That covers two sets of people and means two different things. TO RECEIVE JESUS IS DIFFERENT FROM BELIEVING IN JESUS. THAT IS WHAT DIFFERENTIATES A BORN AGAIN FROM JUST ANYBODY WHO REFERENCES OR BELIEVES IN JESUS. But notice, the bible incorporates the two sets of people. Those that RECEIVE JESUS(BORN-AGAIN) and those that BELIEVE ON HIS NAME(WHICH MAY BE BORN-AGAIN OR NOT) So that means by receiving/believing Jesus, I can ask whatsoever. So do not be surprised that even the word of God works even for "those people". what is my point...Even the devil can prophecy, quote the scriptures(refer to the temptation of Jesus), give gifts to people, but one thing he cannot do or be is Love. Do you know why?
Because God is love and the devil can never be God.

So I can be all the good things and still be lacking in love? YES!
So how do we solve this? That takes us back to the POINT that shows that the Lesser is contained in the Greater". Now love contains all/every other virtue including WISDOM. Why do I say so. The Bible tells us that He that winneth souls is WISE! (Proverbs 11:30) Now you would not want to win a person over to Christ to gain eternal life if you do not love that person.

So I want to possess all these sterling qualities in its entirety, so what do I do?
Instead of asking God to give me each one individually, I ask God to Give me LOVE, which covers them all. That is what the scripture means when it says *asking according to God's Will*. It means asking like God would have asked, thinking like him before asking*. So instead of selfishly asking *God please give me wealth, God would be more pleased if I asked him * God bless me with your kind of Love* because under that umbrella of love, there is wealth in abundance! God is pleased when we ask for things in wider and greater dimensions. That is why God was pleased with the asking of Solomon. Solomon though being a Child, asked for something that encompassed other things *wisdom*. Under Wisdom was wealth, fame, good health etc. So instead of asking God for one of these, he asked God for one thing that had all of those.
That is why Paul in his writing to the church at Corinth emphasized Love as being the Greatest of them all! Because God is love, asking God to bless you with his kind of Love is like literally telling him:
GOD PLEASE MAKE ME YOU! What a request! God will be so pleased because he has always wanted us to be like him. That is why he made us in His own Image and likeness. To further attest to that, he wanted us to have his being, that is why he charged us in Leviticus 19:2 (New International Version)To

The above scripture reference is 2 Corinthians. 3 vs 6. To the Jews, the feast of Pentecost is a celebration of the giving of God’s law. It takes place 50 days after the Passover feast. When God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, it was 50 days after they had celebrated their first Passover and come out of slavery in Egypt.

But what happened after God gave them the law on the first Pentecost? Three thousand people died! (Exodus 32:28) Contrast this with another Pentecost in the New Testament. In the book of Acts, it says that when Pentecost had fully come, God gave not the law but the Holy Spirit, and what happened? Three thousand people got saved (Acts 2:41), which goes to show that “the letter [the law] kills, but the Spirit gives life”! Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness !For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! Reference (2 Corinthians 3; 7-9).

Therefore, we are made Minister of the NEVER FADING GLORIOUS NEW COVENANT and not of the Old covenant upon which hangs over, the veil on the face of Moses! So if you want to be blessed, make sure that you are on the right mountain. You see, the law was given on Mount Sinai, but the Spirit on Mount Zion. That is why the Bible says that “you have not come to the mountain [Sinai] that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest… But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels”. (Hebrews 12:18, 22) The Lord blesses you out of Zion (Psalm 128:5), and not Sinai.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ( 2 Corinthians 3vs 17).
If you are seeking for freedom, SEEK THE SPIRIT!